Adventure Life Grant Supports 'Hearts in the Ice' Project

Adventure Life is honored to donate $2,000 to support Hearts in the Ice, an ambitious project headed by Hilde Fålun Strøm and Sunniva Sorby. Hilde, from Norway, and Sunniva, from Canada, will be spending 9 months in the high Arctic of Svalbard, Norway. They will serve as citizen scientists, collecting data for Arctic research relating to climate change, and their main goal is to initiate social engagement around the environmental changes occurring in the polar regions.

Hilde and Sunniva will be the first women to winter alone in the Arctic, living in a historic trappers' cabin called Bamsebu. Bamsebu is 140 km from the nearest hub of civilization, with no electricity or running water, and 90 days of their 9-month stay will be spent in total darkness in the heart of the Arctic winter.

The project will be sourcing supplies with as minimal packaging as possible, utilizing solar and wind power, and testing a variety of sustainable and innovative technologies, including the use of electric snowmobiles.

With 46 years of combined experience working in the Arctic and Antarctic, Hilde and Sunniva have observed the impact of climate change first-hand. With the Hearts in the Ice project, they aim to create a platform for global dialogue around climate change, centered on the poles and how the changes in these environments have consequences for the entire globe. They encourage everyone to get involved in their own way, whether it be by donating to the project, sharing the message and starting conversations, or learning how to reduce their individual carbon footprint.

Hilde and Sunniva will be broadcasting their experience via satellite, publishing on their social media platforms, and regularly engaging in video chats with classrooms around the world.

Read more about Hilde and Sunniva and the mission of the Hearts in the Ice project here.